THE REASONS WHY ZANU-PF LET TEMBA MLISWA WIN NORTON BY-ELECTION?

Temba Mliswa, former Hurungwe West MP and ZANU-PF Mashonaland West provincial chairperson is the new MP for Norton. Norton was left without MP after war veteran firebrand; Chris Mutsvangwa was fired by ZANU-PF hence ZANU-PF desperately needed to win to prove that they are still a winning force without the support of war veterans.

A few days before the elections, Robert Mugabe, his two vice Presidents and the political Commissar attended the so called star rally in Norton in support of their candidate, Ronald Chindedza. There were allegations of vote buying and threats were made to some electorates. Temba Mliswa's campaigns were marred with violence, supporters were dispersed and rallies disturbed by police and ZANU-PF supporters. Nevertheless, Mliswa still pulled a convincing surprise win by more than a thousand votes. ZANU-PF political Commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere was the first to concede defeat on twitter.

ZANU-PF for decades has been accused of vote rigging and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) alleged ZANU-PF electoral rigging machine. So if they desperately needed to win Norton in anyway - by hook or by crook why didn't they rig?

What was the reason they simply let go... why?  

Is it because ZANU-PF and ZEC have reformed or maybe they have never rigged or ZANU-PF wanted to gauge the real political and electoral temperature before 2018 general elections, or ZANU-PF genuinely misjudged, or perhaps Temba Mliswa is another so called ZANU-PF projects set within opposition corridors of power, or we should give credit where it’s due; kudos to National Electoral Reform Agenda (NERA) and other opposition political parties for the electoral reforms that made it difficult to rig? 

Nobody knows but the question still remains, WHAT ARE THE REASONS WHY ZANU-PF LET TEMBA MLISWA WIN NORTON BY-ELECTION IF THEY WERE SO DESPERATE TO RETAIN THE SEAT?